Amazon is so dominant that even successful retail startups are playing its game

Tuft & Needle is a success story, growing over the last five years to push a new model of e-commerce that’s upending traditional bedding sellers. Now, it’s heading for the big time with a big expansion of its own brick and mortar stores.

Who does a successful startup call when its making such a big move? Amazon, of course.

Starting with a forthcoming showroom near Amazon’s Seattle home base, Tuft & Needle plans to launch 30 locations across the country by 2020. Each storefront will prominently feature the Amazon logo emblazoned under Tuft & Needle’s own brand—and be stocked with Amazon gadgets to bolster the experience.

Such is life for retailers these days. You’re not going to beat Amazon, so you might as well join ’em.

“We view Amazon as the most powerful force in the future of retail, and instead of resisting it like many other brands, we are fully embracing our relationship with them,” Tuft & Needle co-founder Daehee Park said. “If this works for Tuft & Needle, other retail categories can learn from this experiment to plug into Amazon and overtake their own incumbents.”

As Amazon’s chokehold on the online shopping world grows, Tuft & Needle is one of several retailers who’ve decided they’d rather work with the e-commerce behemoth than against it. Bigger companies like Nike and Sears have made the same decision in recent weeks, and each of Tuft & Needle’s primary competitors sells through Amazon to some extent.

The joint effort comes as Amazon pushes aggressively into the home furniture category, one of the few remaining consumer markets that has escaped its grasp.

Image: Amazon/screenshot

Furniture is one of Amazon’s fastest growing sections.

These won’t be Tuft & Needle’s first stores. The company launched its three existing locations in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and San Francisco back in 2012. Like many other e-commerce startups, it’s found that brick-and-mortar operations can offer a customer service experience that the web just can’t match.

The need for Amazon’s help, however, comes with everything the ecommerce giant does better than any other company.